Tesla reportedly delays highly anticipated robotaxi event, stock tanks
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Tesla is postponing its highly anticipated robotaxi event by about two months to give its teams time to build prototypes, according to a Bloomberg report on Thursday.
Why it matters: CEO Elon Musk had been positioning the planned August 8 reveal as a preview of the next leg of Tesla's growth amid flagging demand for electric vehicles and intensifying competition.
- "If somebody doesn't believe Tesla is going to solve autonomy, I think they should not be an investor in the company," Musk told investors back in April.
- Shares were down about 8% following the report.
The big picture: Wall Street and Tesla investors have been watching the development of these plans closely this year, with many giving the company a pass on Tesla's falling delivery numbers and instead issuing positive guidance around the robotaxi strategy.
- "The key for Tesla's stock ... is the Street recognizing that Tesla is the most undervalued AI play in the market in our view with a historical Robotaxi Day ahead for Musk and Tesla on August 8th that will lay the yellow brick road to FSD and an autonomous future," longtime Tesla bull Dan Ives, of Wedbush, wrote in a note published hours before Bloomberg's report.
- He continued to remain bullish issuing another note just minutes after the postponement report, calling the delay a sign that "the actual Robotaxi event and prototypes [will be] even better and more eye popping."
- Sentiments like those from Ives have helped push Tesla's stock up over the past few weeks, so it's no surprise that shares fell following Bloomberg's report.
What we're watching: While a fleet of self-driving cars for shared use has also long been part of Musk's "master plan," it relies on Tesla's autonomous technology that continues to draw criticism and safety concerns.
- The company will report earnings on July 23 and Wall Street will likely ask about the delayed event on the earnings call — particularly as they grow more anxious over rising AI investment costs that will need to generate returns.
My thought bubble: Fluid timelines are on brand for Musk and Tesla, but this latest calendar shift comes as Musk's focus of late has shifted toward robotics and his other outside projects.
- Just a day ago, he replied to a post on X about Tesla's Optimus robot — designed to perform certain factory tasks — saying "The new Optimus design, which will be complete later this year, is something special."
- He's also been spending time with his startup Neuralink, which is aiming to install a brain implant in its second patient in "the next week or so," he said in a video that he posted on Wednesday.
